Networks are made up of different elements like cloud servers, load balancers, routers, switches, wireless access points, personal computers, and mobile devices. These networks are being extended to also include sensors and gateways as “Internet of Things” (IoT) becomes a reality.
Network elements typically include a functional component that provides the functionality of the element and a management component that provides access to the information within the functional component of the network element. Management applications that monitor and control network elements, interact with the management component within the network elements to carry out their tasks by sending management requests over the network.
As more and more things connect to the network, their security becomes even more important. Network security is focused on blocking intrusions to the network and allowing access to network elements to only those with the right credentials. However in spite of the best efforts to prevent network intrusion, networks continue to get attacked and compromised. Network elements and sensors that can include power grids transformers, medical equipment in hospitals and routers within the networking infrastructure are all susceptible to malicious attacks.
Since some IoT sensors are small and without much computing power, they do not have much security built-in and rely on physical proximity to connect with secure gateways that are within a trusted network. When the trusted network/gateway is breached, the sensors become particularly vulnerable. Compromised networks do not even realize that they have been compromised.
What is needed is a means of detecting intrusion, identifying compromised network resources, and notifying network administrators without risking damage to network elements or sensors.